Indonesia places hopes on Yayuk in Fed Cup

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia appears to be placing all its hopes on the shoulders of Yayuk Basuki in its Fed Cup tie against Switzerland, due to start today.

Yayuk, one of the world's longest-serving Fed Cup players with a record of 11 successive years, plays Patti Schnyder today and hopes to help Indonesia take a morale-boosting 1-0 lead.

Switzerland is likely to pull level when world number 17 Martina Hingis takes on fellow teenager Liza Andriyani in the second singles match.

Yayuk should make full use of an overnight break before she meets Hingis tomorrow. The Indonesian world number 28 lost to the 15-year-old Swiss star at Hilton Head, North Carolina, last March, but playing on home soil could lead to sweet revenge.

"Our ranking gap has nothing to do with this Fed Cup match. I'll fight it out," Yayuk said in yesterday's work-out.

Indonesian non-playing captain Suharyadi has indicated his squad's dependence on Yayuk. "Yayuk has to win both singles matches. Otherwise we will be in trouble," he said after Thursday's draw.

Suharyadi, hoping to try for better luck, sidelined the country's second-best player, Romana Tedjakusuma from his choice of singles players and preferred Liza instead. Romana will join forces with Yayuk in the doubles.

The experiment, however, remains far from easing the mounting pressures on Yayuk, who plans to retire at the end of the year. She played her regular role in a Fed Cup first-round tie last April, and crashed to surprise defeats when Indonesia was humiliated in a 5-0 drubbing.

Another Swiss tennis team led by Olympic champion Marc Rosset routed Indonesia 4-1 in a Davis Cup tie here in 1994.

Schnyder admitted yesterday that she only has a slim chance of upsetting Yayuk in today's opening match, but was convinced that Hingis could inspire the Swiss to an away win.

"Playing singles or doubles, Basuki is excellent. But so is Martina. I think we can expect very close matches between Basuki and Martina," world number 81 Schnyder said.

"Martina, however, will sweep her two singles matches and I myself hope to take one singles match."

Hingis carries a superb Fed Cup record, winning 16 out of 18 singles and doubles matches since making her debut last year. She is also buoyed by her Wimbledon doubles title which put her in the record book as the youngest winner ever at the tournament.

A loss will drop Indonesia into the Asia Pacific qualifying zone, its worst standing since 1985. Yayuk helped Indonesia reach the quarterfinals in 1991, before losing to the eventual winner Spain. (arf/amd)